John M wrote:
> Brent,
>
> as usual, you have hard replies. Just one exception:
> I do not mean 'each and individual mindset' as the term 'belief system',
> but this is hard to explain. Most scientifically educated westerners -
> or many religious faithfuls can argue among themselves. I never tried to
> speculate about identifying what constitutes a 'different belief
> system', but 'system' must be more than just shades of individual
> differentiation in the details.
>
> John M
If you don't mean something individual by "belief system", but rather some general summary of what a group of people think, then individuals within that "belief system" will have a variety of views. Some will have some views in conflict with the belief system. And some can have their views changed by argument. People are converted from Christianity to atheism everyday. And rational argument plays a large part in this. Most theists are also rational people who want to have beliefs that are coherent and consistent with empirical observation. When they become sufficiently uncomfortable with conflicts between Church teachings and science and they may simply stop thinking about it and rely on faith - or if they are theologians they may assign tortured meanings to words to avoid the conflict - or they may reject those aspects of Church teaching that are empirically wrong and become agnostics or atheists.
I notice that you frequently imply that there is something wrong with "the Big Bang"; but you have never, so far as I know, provided an argument or any evidence for this opinion. Instead you imply that those with a contrary view are just too obtuse to see other possibilities. This shows a certain contempt for your readers.
Brent Meeker
"Atheism is a belief system the way "Off" is a TV channel."
--- George Carlin
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Received on Wed Feb 28 2007 - 19:10:06 PST